Classroom Websites Literature Review

Getting parents involved with a course website  Research shows that the more involved parents become in their students’ education the higher the students achievement will be  Parent involvement also creates positive attitudes toward school for students  Parent involvement also creates a stronger motivation to do well in students  Henderson & Berla, 1994, Unal 2008

Getting parents involved with a course website  It is beneficial for both parents and students when teachers involve parents in their teaching on a regular basis  Parent involvement increases when teachers make it a point to reach out to parents, this allows for parents to feel more comfortable helping their students  Epstein & Dauber, 1991, Unal, 2008

What is most important to have on your teacher website  In a study done in a North Eastern county on 93 teacher websites the most widely used items were teachers biography, curriculum description, instructional activities and other links for parents, homework, and examples of student work. (Lunts, 2003, Unal 2008)

What is most important to have on your teacher website  A different study which analyzed over 2,000 teacher websites discovered the following materials to be the most commonly used  Course overview  Calendar  Teacher info  link  Link to school  Date updated  Visitor counter  Halcomb, Castek & Johnson, 2007, Unal 2008

What is most important to have on your teacher website  Schoolwires (2008) recommends that teacher websites should have the following elements on a teacher website; contact information, welcome message, teacher bio, syllabus, homework, calendar, links, classroom rules, worksheets, resource lists”(Unal, 2008).

How useful are classroom websites  One study surveyed teachers to determine how often parents and students used their websites. They found that due to a lack in Internet capabilities, not many people used their websites  With a perception that parents and students were not using the class websites many teachers stopped updating and posting information on their website.  Friedman, 2006

References  Epstein, J., & Dauber, S. (1991). School programs and teacher practices of parent involvement in inner- city elementary and middle schools. The Elementary School Journal, 91,  Friedman, A. (2006). K-12 Teachers’ Use of Course Websites. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(4), Chesapeake, VA.  Henderson, A. T., & Berla, N. (1994). A new generation of evidence: The family is critical to student achievement. St. Louis, MO: Danforth Foundation and Flint, MI: Mott (C. S.) Foundation.  Lunts E. (2003). Motivating Parents Through Class Websites. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 7, 1,  Unal, Z. Going The Extra Step For Parental Involvement: Connecting Family And School With The Power Of Teacher Websites. Journal of College Teaching and Learning, 5,